Democratic Republic of the Congo: Lawyers caught up in armed conflict and collapse of the judicial system
Paris, 2 June 2025 – The International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger is seriously alarmed by the situation of lawyers in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the partial occupation of the region by the armed group M23 has left the judicial system in a state of crisis.
The province of North Kivu in the DRC has been the scene of a non-international armed conflict for several months between the Congolese armed forces and the M23 [1] rebellion, a non-state armed group currently occupying large parts of the territory, including the strategic city of Goma. This ongoing crisis has led to the collapse of the established legal order and the establishment of a parallel justice system under the control of the M23.
The North Kivu Bar Association is now divided between the occupied areas (Goma) and those under government authority (the Far North). This geographical division seriously undermines its functioning and its ability to effectively defend individuals before the courts.
In areas under M23 control, lawyers face a climate of constant intimidation: arbitrary arrests, threats, pressure to drop certain cases. Several lawyers are being detained without charge or are directly targeted by threats. The mere exercise of their profession exposes lawyers to immediate reprisals by the de facto authorities.
The M23 has set up a parallel judicial system, with unqualified individuals, sometimes trained in military camps, handing down decisions with no legal basis. Lawyers thus have no independence: any action in defence of a client can be perceived as political opposition, exposing them to arrest or physical reprisals.
Similar dynamics are emerging in Bukavu (South Kivu), where lawyers and judges are also under increasing pressure in a context of growing insecurity. The human consequences of this regional crisis are already dramatic, with forced exile, mob justice and extrajudicial detentions.
The Observatory recalls that, in accordance with Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, lawyers, as civilians, must be protected against all forms of violence, including: “(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) Taking of hostages; (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.”
Furthermore, the Observatory urges the parties to the conflict to respect their commitments under the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 relating to the protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts (Protocol II) of 8 June 1977, in particular Article 1§1, which states that “This Protocol (…) shall apply to all armed conflicts which are not covered by Article 1 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) and which take place in the territory of a High Contracting Party between its armed forces and dissident armed forces or other organized armed groups which, under responsible command, exercise such control over a part of its territory as to enable them to carry out sustained and concerted military operations and to implement this Protocol.”
The systematic harassment of lawyers in areas controlled by the M23 constitutes a serious violation of IHL and must be given immediate attention by the international community.
[1] “Mouvement du 23 Mars” (“March 23 Movement”) formed in 2021 by members of the DRC armed forces (FARDC) and supported by the Rwandan armed forces.
